


Let It Snow (And I'll Get Sentimental)

by mylifeiskara



Series: Chopped Fics [1]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Met on the Ark Station (The 100), Amnesia, Emori lives on the Ark, F/M, Fluff, Nobody's a delinquent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-24 15:34:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21880309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mylifeiskara/pseuds/mylifeiskara
Summary: All John Murphy wants for Christmas is for Emori to remember who he is.
Relationships: Emori/John Murphy (The 100)
Series: Chopped Fics [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1843351
Comments: 12
Kudos: 22
Collections: Chopped: Holiday Trope Exchange 1.0





	Let It Snow (And I'll Get Sentimental)

**Author's Note:**

> This is my fic for the Chopped: Holiday Trope Exchange. Thanks for giving me an excuse to write some cute Memori!
> 
> My friend's alternate pun title for this is There's Snow Place Like Space.
> 
> Tropes I was assigned:  
> 1) friends made a bet  
> 2) one character kisses the other and the one who got kissed is shocked still  
> 3) amnesia AU  
> 4) ark AU (or any other AU where the story takes place in space)

John Murphy can pinpoint the exact day when his life changed for the better. It was a few weeks before Christmas, and he was trying to figure out what he could scrounge up to try and get his mom something halfway decent as a gift. Nobody on the Ark really celebrated holidays with any large fanfare, especially if they weren’t well off. But Murphy always liked to get his mom a little something, even though he knew full well she wouldn’t be bothered to get him a gift. He wasn’t exactly sure why he thought a present might make her more likely to stay sober, but it didn’t hurt to try.

Lost in thought, he wasn’t paying attention to where he was walking in the canteen and ran into a girl from Mecha Station. He didn’t think he’d ever seen her before, but he’d definitely seen the friend who immediately came to her rescue once they both hit the ground. He had tried to flirt with Raven Reyes at the Unity Day dance the year before and proceeded to trip her after she rejected him. He did apologize, but only after she had punched him in the face.

“You’ve got to be kidding, Murphy!” Raven shouted as she helped her friend up from the ground.

“It was an accident!” he protested, but Raven didn’t seem to believe him.

“I’m okay, Raven,” the other girl finally spoke. “It was an honest mistake.”

Raven still only seemed slightly convinced that this was the case, seeing as she continued to glare in Murphy’s direction. But she didn’t say anything else, which Murphy considered to be an improvement.

He looked back to the other girl, who was regarding him with a smirk. She was older than him, at least already eighteen, but she had an air about her that made him think she’d seen a lot of life. Which was really saying something, since they were all stuck in space. Her brown hair was held back by a head wrap, displaying her badass face tattoo. Where on the Ark did she even get a face tattoo? He also noticed that just her left hand was wrapped up. Maybe she hurt it recently. It took him a little too long to realize he should probably stop staring and say something, so he cleared his throat before continuing. 

“I really am sorry,” Murphy apologized. “I should pay more attention to where I’m going.”

“It’s not a big deal. I wasn’t looking either.”

They stood there awkwardly, nobody sure what to say next. Murphy didn’t want the interaction to end, and it seemed like she might be on the same page. But Raven had other plans.

“Emori, we should go,” she finally said. “We’re gonna be late getting back to work.”

Emori. The name suited her. He’d never heard a name like that before. But then again, he had never met a girl like her before. Murphy was aware of how wild these things were to be thinking when he had known her for all of two minutes. And he didn’t really know her. All he did was run into her.

Emori rolled her eyes, but she seemed to agree with Raven. She gave Murphy another onceover before saying, “Run into you soon.” And with that they were both gone.

Murphy shrugged the interaction off. He knew better than to count on seeing her again. If he’d gone this long without ever seeing her until that day, why would they ever cross paths again?

That didn’t stop him from thinking about her, though. And it was his own fault for mentioning the run-in to Monty and Jasper, since they only proceeded to make fun of him for obsessing over a girl he’d only seen one time.

Murphy was leaving Earth Skills a week later when he saw her again. Or more like, she pushed him into a wall.

“What the hell?” Murphy shouted, not pleased that someone decided to mess with him.

The laughter that came from the perpetrator only proved to make him more upset, but all the fight left him when he saw that it was Emori who pushed him.

“I said I’d run into you soon,” she smiled.

Murphy chuckled. “I’m glad you made good on your promise. I honestly didn’t think I’d see you again.”

“Well, the Ark is only so big, John. Even if you are from Farm Station.”

He frowned. “How’d you know I’m from Farm Station?”

“It’s not important. What’s important is, I wanted to see you again. So I made it happen.”

Murphy felt his face heat up. No girl had ever been so forward with him. But then again, girls didn’t really seem to talk to him. And for some reason, Emori went out of her way to seek him out. He figured he shouldn’t question it. When was something like this going to happen to him again?

“Well I’m glad you did,” he smiled back at her. “And hey, nobody ever calls me by my first name.”

Emori laughed and poked him in the ribs. “Then I guess that makes me special.”

Their friendship blossomed easily from there. He would walk into the canteen, and Emori would wave him over to her table, much to Raven’s dismay. He and Raven did eventually get used to each other. He’d even go so far as to say that they’d become friends in their own right. Their threesome quickly morphed into a group, as Monty and Jasper got a bit jealous that Murphy had started spending time with people other than them. The last addition to their group was Bellamy, Murphy’s friend from Factory Station.

Murphy loved his new group, but he was the most thankful to have Emori. She was probably the coolest person he’d ever met, and every time she smiled it made his breath catch in his throat. She loved to explore the entire Ark, and she recruited Murphy to come along with her. He hadn’t known that half of the places they’d gone to had existed before Emori showed them to him. They even had their own special place where they’d go when Murphy would sneak out at night to meet her. They would sit and watch the stars out the window, as they told each other things they’d never told anybody else.

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Murphy was falling in love. He didn’t think he made it much of a secret. All their other friends knew. And if she felt the same, wouldn’t she have made a move? She was always the one to make a move. So he resigned himself to the fact that they were just destined to be best friends, which he didn’t mind. She was the most important person in his life, and he wanted her in his life in any way he could have her.

**___________________**

Cut to a year later, and everything changes again. Murphy doesn’t think anyone could ever mistake him for being a sentimental person. That’s just not his thing. So as he, Raven, Bellamy, Monty, and Jasper sit in Medical after hearing Emori had an accident at work, he’s not sure what comes over him. He can’t imagine his life without her in it.

The doctor comes out in the hall to alert them of Emori’s condition. Murphy’s ears ring as Dr. Griffin explains that Emori suffered a head injury and she’s disoriented.

“What do you mean, disoriented?” Raven finally asks.

“She doesn’t seem to know where she is,” Dr. Griffin continues calmly.

“Can we see her?” Murphy asks. “Maybe familiar faces will help.”

“I don’t see why not.” She motions for them to follow her inside.

Emori is propped up on a hospital bed, talking to the other doctor. Murphy thinks his name is Jackson. There are bandages wrapped around her forehead, and when she looks up to see her friends coming towards her, there doesn’t seem to be any sort of recognition in her eyes.

“Emori, I brought your friends,” Dr. Griffin smiles.

Emori squints at the group. “Those people aren’t my friends.”

Murphy’s stomach drops. He looks around the room to see his friends making similar faces of horror. She doesn’t know who they are.

Raven tries to calm herself before speaking, but it doesn’t seem to work. “You said she was disoriented. I thought that meant she had a concussion, not amnesia.”

Bellamy tries to comfort Raven by rubbing her arm, but she yanks it away from him in favor of glaring at Dr. Griffin.

This is when the other doctor decides to jump in. “We’ve done a scan of her brain activity, and we believe that the memory loss is only temporary.”

“So when is she gonna start remembering things again?” Jasper asks.

“It’s not really an exact science,” Dr. Jackson continues. “For some people it takes a couple weeks. For others, months or even longer.”

“So basically there’s no way to tell,” Murphy quips.

“I know it’s not what you want to hear, but it’s the reality of the situation,” Dr. Griffin says.

“There’s really nothing we can do?” Bellamy asks.

“There have been cases where people regain their memory with little reminders. Take her to her favorite places, talk to her about things you all have done together. Pictures and objects tend to help, too.”

They nod, but nobody really knows what to say. Murphy wants to cling to the hope that this is only a temporary situation, but what if it’s not? What if this changes everything? Sure, she’s still Emori, but is she his Emori? Not that she was ever his, since they’ve always just been friends.

Their group leaves Emori in Medical, Dr. Griffin wanting to keep her overnight to monitor her symptoms. It’s probably safe to say that none of them get that much sleep.

When Emori’s released, she goes to stay in Raven’s unit, since someone has to keep monitoring her concussion symptoms. They come back together as a group a few days later in the canteen. It seems like everyone is walking on eggshells, and Emori just looks confused.

“Do you remember everyone’s names?” Raven asks.

Emori shakes her head.

Raven sighs and points around the table as she introduces everyone. “This is Bellamy, Jasper, Monty, and Murphy.”

“But you usually call me John,” Murphy adds, remembering the doctor’s advice to remind her of things to help jog her memory.

Emori frowns. “Does anybody else call you John?”

“Besides my mom? Just you.”

“Why would I call you John when everybody else calls you Murphy?”

That sentence makes Murphy feel like his heart is breaking.

“You liked to say it made you special,” he continues.

She nods, taking the information in, but doesn’t say anything else. Everyone sits quietly, not sure how to move forward. The silence is uncomfortable, much louder than if they had just decided to talk. Murphy can’t stand it.

“Alright,” he says, getting up from his chair. “Emori, come here.”

“Murphy what are you—” Bellamy begins.

“Just trust me,” Murphy interrupts.

Emori has stood up by now, though she doesn’t seem too sure of her decision. Murphy sighs and turns and walks toward the entrance of the canteen. To his surprise, Emori actually follows him. The rest of his friends are still at their table, completely lost as to what’s going on.

“Look. This is where we first met about a year ago,” Murphy says. “I wasn’t paying attention, and we bumped into each other. Raven came to your rescue thinking I did it on purpose, but you stood up for me and said it was an accident.”

“Was it an accident?” Emori asks.

“Yeah. I was thinking about a Christmas gift to get for my mom.”

Emori nods, satisfied with this answer. “I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a Christmas present before.”

Murphy snorts. “That makes two of us.”

“Do you think that’s something we’d do for each other?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Raven has been telling me things about you guys. To try and help me remember. She says that you and I were the closest. Do you think we’d get each other Christmas presents?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.” He can’t help but smile, as he can almost see the gears in her brain working.

“I think it could be fun,” Emori finally responds. For a split second, Murphy sees a familiar glint in her eyes, but it goes away just as quickly as it appears. It was probably only his imagination.

“Okay. Is there anything in particular you’d like?” He’d never gotten anyone besides his mom a present before.

“If you know me as well as Raven says you do, I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”

It’s at this moment that Raven comes up next to Emori.

“I hate to interrupt, but Emori’s got an appointment with Dr. Griffin,” Raven says.

“Right. Thanks for the reminder.”

“Do you need help getting there?”

“I think I remember the way. But come with me, just in case,” Emori decides. She smiles at Murphy. “See you around, Murphy.”

He manages to disguise his wince at the use of his last name and waves as she walks away.

Raven flashes a sympathetic smile before asking, “What were you guys talking about?”

“I was showing her where we first met. Trying to jog her memories.”

“We’re gonna get her back, Murphy. Dr. Griffin says her case is a promising one. And we all have memories we can share with her.”

“I hope you’re right.”

Raven pats Murphy’s shoulder as she follows after Emori.

For the next few weeks leading up to Christmas, the group takes Emori all around the Ark as they relive some of the adventures they’ve had together. Emori seems amused by their stories, but there still isn’t any real recognition that they happened to her.

When he’s not helping Emori with her memories, Murphy spends most of his time wondering what he should get her for a Christmas present. He wants it to mean something, but how much will it actually mean if Emori doesn’t remember how important she is to him? He’s putting a lot of pressure on the gift because somewhere deep in the back of his mind, he hopes that maybe receiving it will be the thing that brings her memory back. He has to keep reminding himself that that’s stupid.

Inspiration finally strikes one night when he sneaks out to meet Emori. He brings her to their favorite spot, a giant bay window just outside Mecha Station, large enough for two people to sit together.

“You always say this window has the best view on the Ark,” Murphy explains once they’re settled.

Emori doesn’t say anything for a while. She’s staring out the window, surveying the expanse of stars with a look of wonder on her face. Murphy knows he’s blatantly staring, but he can’t help himself. Eventually she turns her head and locks eyes with him briefly, before hooking her arms around her bent knees.

“When I still had my memory, did I know that you like me?” she asks, staring back out the window.

Murphy frowns. “How do you know I like you?” He tries to sound confused, but he’s never been the best at lying.

“It’s pretty obvious. But you get this look on your face. Like I hung the moon or something.”

“Oh. I never actually knew if you knew. You’re a lot better at hiding your emotions than I am.”

She nods, then changes the subject. “So tell me more about this window.”

“I guess you could call it our spot. When we first became friends, you took me on a lot of late night exploring trips all over the Ark. But we’d come here the most. We’d sit and talk for hours.”

“What would we talk about?”

“Everything. One night I knew you must have really trusted me, because you told me about your brother getting floated.”

“My brother,” she repeats, as if she’s testing the words on her own tongue.

“Yeah. His name was Otan. You told me he was your only family, and he got floated because they found out he was hiding you. You ended up in the Sky Box for a couple years, and then they let you out when you were 18.”

Emori stares out the window as Murphy tells her this. He can’t read the expression on her face, but it remains fairly neutral.

“It must have been nice to have a brother,” she finally says, “especially when nobody else on the Ark can say the same.”

“From what you’ve told me, he seemed like a good brother for the most part. Since you couldn’t really go outside, you guys watched a lot of old movies together. You said the Christmas ones were always your favorites.”

“Christmas sounds nice.”

“Maybe back on Earth, it was. Here’s it’s just sad. Only well-off people actually celebrate.”

“But didn’t you say you always get a Christmas present for your mom?”

“I wouldn’t really call that celebrating, more a plea for her to stay sober.”

Emori reaches out to pat his knee and gives him a soft smile. “Well let’s switch things up and actually make it a cause for celebration this year.”

Murphy doesn’t even try to reign in the grin that’s forming on his face, since he knows it wouldn’t work. He can’t seem to form any words so he just nods in response.

“Will you walk me back to Raven’s unit? I’m getting tired.”

“Sure.”

They talk the whole way, and this is the first evening since Emori’s accident that Murphy feels like he’s hanging out with his best friend again. She still doesn’t remember everything, but she’s at least starting to seem like her old self again. And that in itself fills Murphy with an immense amount of hope. They stop outside of Raven’s unit, and Emori takes a moment to look at Murphy, not saying anything. He stares right back.

“You know, when Raven told me that we were the closest, I didn’t really get why. But I think it’s starting to make more sense,” she smiles.

Murphy ducks his head, hoping to hide the blush that he feels rapidly forming on his face.

“See you tomorrow, Murphy.” With that, she opens the door to the unit and disappears inside.

Murphy sighs. He already knew how far gone he was for Emori, but he doesn’t have much hope for them getting together now that she doesn’t remember who he is. All he can really hope for is that they’ll get back to being best friends, and he knows the best way to solidify their friendship is to get her a kick-ass Christmas gift.

And that’s when it hits him.

The next day, Murphy assembles all of his friends (except Emori) to tell them his idea.

“Snow?” Bellamy repeats, almost as if he’s making sure he heard correctly.

“You do realize we’re in space, and none of us have ever seen actual snow in our lives, right?” Raven asks.

“Yes Raven, I’m not dumb. But we’ve seen pictures and videos of snow. And snow machines exist. We just have to make one.”

“And how do you propose we do this?” Monty asks.

“You guys are the perfect group for this job. Monty’s training to be an engineer, Raven’s a mechanic, Jasper did really well in chemistry, so I’m sure we can figure something out.”

“But where would we even put a snow machine and not get caught?” Jasper wonders.

“And that’s where Bellamy comes in handy, since he’s training to be a guard. He knows what parts of the station we should avoid.”

“So basically you want us all to commit a couple of crimes so that you can get the girl you like snow for Christmas?” Bellamy summarizes.

Murphy groans. “Come on, guys! Think of it this way. We don’t know if Emori’s ever going to get her memories back. But we can at least help her make some new ones. Don’t act like I’m the only one who cares about her.”

“You’re right,” Raven decides. “She’d do the same for us.”

“I’m in,” Monty says, while Jasper just nods.

Bellamy rubs a hand over his face, but Murphy knows he’s about to give in.

“Fine. Let’s get Emori some snow.”

The week leading up to Christmas is filled with a flutter of activity for Murphy and his friends. When they’re not spending time with Emori or at work, they’re working on their makeshift snow machine. Raven and Bellamy have been sourcing machine parts and bringing them to the deserted part of Farm Station that they’ve been using to hide their contraption. Bellamy even enlisted the help of his guard friend Miller to source a few pieces. Raven and Monty have also been working closely to put the parts together, while Murphy helps Jasper create the substance they’ll eventually put into the machine.

As it gets closer and closer to the gift exchange, Murphy’s nerves only seem to worsen. What if she hates it? What if he put in all this effort for nothing? He doesn’t put effort into many things, so it might be a little embarrassing. What if the machine doesn’t even work? It’s not like they can test it beforehand without drawing attention. They only get one shot. But they’ve come so far, and Murphy doesn’t have another idea for a present, so there’s no turning back now.

Christmas finally rolls around, and Murphy is doubting his present idea even more. Sure, this is Emori, but it’s Emori who doesn’t remember they’re best friends. She’s definitely going to think this is weird. His other friends (mainly Bellamy) continue to remind him that they’ve broken several laws to do this, so he’d better not chicken out at the last minute.

Murphy told Emori to meet him in the deserted part of Farm Station after most everyone would be back in their units. He arrives early with Monty, Jasper, and Bellamy in tow, since Raven has to bring Emori to the spot. He paces for about five minutes before Bellamy tells him to quit it. It’s only another minute before Raven arrives with Emori, who’s cradling a modest sized wrapped lump to her chest.

“Merry Christmas!” the boys shout as Raven and Emori get closer.

“Merry Christmas!” they shout back.

Emori narrows her eyes. “What are you all doing here if Murphy and I are the only ones exchanging gifts?”

“Well they’re your friends, too!” Murphy says. “And I kind of needed their help to pull this off.”

“Pull off what?”

“You’re about to see.”

On Murphy’s signal, Monty pulls the lever on their makeshift machine, which begins to make a promising whirring sound. Murphy almost wants to close his eyes, but then he really won’t know if it’s worked or not. He looks to Emori, who looks confused, but is obviously waiting for something to happen.

And when it happens, it’s magical.

The fan that Raven insisted on adding was a last minute decision, but it allows the first flakes to actually fly into the air before they spread all throughout the room. Emori’s eyes widen and a grin breaks out on her face as the flurries swirl around her. Everyone takes a minute to marvel at their handiwork. They really pulled it off. And it’s even more beautiful than any of them could have ever imagined.

“Snow?” Emori finally says.

“Yeah. You said your favorite thing about Christmas in the movies was the snow, and you wished it could snow on the Ark. So everyone pitched in to help make it snow for you.”

“You did all this for me?” She almost sounds like she’s in disbelief.

Murphy’s face heats up as he nods. “Of course.”

Emori’s smile changes as she surges forward and presses a kiss to his lips, which he was not expecting in the slightest. He barely has time to react and kiss back before it’s over. He’s more than shocked, and has to pinch himself to make sure that it actually happened. But it did. This is real life.

“Thank you, John,” Emori whispers.

Murphy blinks back a few tears at the sound of his first name.

“You… you called me John,” he manages to choke out.

“I always call you John. What else would I call you?”

“Are you just saying that because I told you that’s what you call me, or do you actually remember?”

“I remember!” she laughs.

Murphy laughs too as he hugs her then spins her around, only causing her to laugh more. He puts her back down on the ground and Raven and Bellamy are rushing forward to hug her too.

“It’s a Christmas miracle!” Raven decides.

“You guys didn’t have to do this. Now I feel lame just for getting John a dumb sweater!”

“Hey, it was all to help you get your memory back. We missed you,” Bellamy says.

At this point, Murphy realizes that Monty and Jasper are still in the corner by the snow machine. They seem to be arguing about something in hushed tones, though he’s not sure what could be more important than Emori’s brain being back to normal.

“What are you guys doing?” he calls over to them.

Monty and Jasper turn to Murphy as though they’ve been caught.

“Well, see… here’s the thing—” Jasper stutters.

Monty cuts him off. “Emori kissed you. And, well we’ve kind of had a bet going ever since you guys met on when one of you would make a move and who would do it first.”

“And I should win because I said Emori would make a move first, but not for at least a year!” Jasper continues.

“But I don’t think it counts? Because Emori had amnesia, and their first kiss is not a direct result of their developing dynamic.”

“She kissed him because she remembers! That means it had everything to do with their dynamic! How are you not getting this?”

They continue to argue, but Murphy can’t bring himself to care. It’s snowing on this one concentrated part of the Ark, and he got his best friend back. And she kissed him. He can’t seem to wipe the grin off his face.

“Maybe we should celebrate Christmas every year,” Emori says as she wraps her arms around Murphy’s waist.

Murphy smiles back and presses a kiss to her forehead. “Yeah. Maybe we should.”

“Merry Christmas, John.”

“Merry Christmas, Emori.”

They hold each other as fake snow continues to swirl and fall around them. Murphy’s definitely going to remember this as the best Christmas ever. He might not be a sentimental person, but he’s fine with being sentimental just for Emori.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all enjoyed!
> 
> Come find me on [Tumblr](https://queenemori.tumblr.com/).


End file.
